


Sincerely

by marblepinkpanda



Category: The Croaking (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, M/M, also ky thinks he's straight, and they were pen pals! (oh my god they were pen pals), but there's no homophobic themes, he just didn't know that about himself, ky uses "Lol" in a letter, no racism in this au!, scra is the new one in this au, side reamer/scra for like a minute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28585533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marblepinkpanda/pseuds/marblepinkpanda
Summary: Even in a different world, Scra will pretend not to know Ky at first.
Relationships: Ky Cedoc/Scra Eldwode
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	1. Begrudgingly and Against My Will

**Author's Note:**

> i haven't written in a very long time but i'm really excited to be contributing to this tag! thanks to Megan Grey for creating literally the best webtoon

“Let’s introduce ourselves to the new guy,” Ree said. She’d pushed herself off the lockers and into the swarm of students before Ky could answer.

“What if we didn’t follow her every whim for a change,” Ky suggested. Tiraa gave him a look that read, _Really?_ and wordlessly followed after Ree. Ky gave himself a second of pretending he wouldn’t before trailing after them.

Across the hall was a crow Ky didn’t recognize. He was alone and entirely oblivious to the upcoming ambush. Ky scrunched his nose in mild pity. The poor guy probably wanted to get his books in peace.

“Hey!” Ree said, slamming her shoulder into the locker beside the crow and earning a flinch. “You new?”

Ky and Tiraa stepped into place behind Ree, Ky offering a small wave and a smile he hoped said, _Sorry about this._

The crow eyed Ky’s wave, unimpressed. “Yeah,” he said.

“Have a name?” asked Tiraa.

The crow’s gaze flitted over to her. “Scra.” Ky’s smile dropped. “And you are?”

“Tiraa,” said Tiraa, stepping in closer. “And this is Ree and—”

“Ky,” Ky cut in. “ _Cedoc_.” He waited for a spark of recognition in Scra’s eyes. But there was none.

“Okay,” Scra said, and he turned back to his locker. The warning bell rang.

Ree chuckled and patted Scra’s backpack. “Nice to meet you, new guy. We’ll see you around.”

Ky held back a moment longer, kept his eyes on Scra’s face a few seconds more. Scra didn’t look back at him once. Ky finally looked away and followed Ree and Tiraa to their next class.

* * *

_Dear Ky Cedoc,_

_My name is Scra Eldwode. You don’t know me, which I_ _keep pointing out to my uncle_ _, but he doesn’t listen to me because he’s an ignoramus and assumes that normal people LIKE receiving unexpected letters from strangers through the mail. I, however, am fully aware of how creepy this is. I would apologize, but this isn’t my fault in the first place. I highly recommend that you don’t reply. Burn this as soon as you finish reading. Sooner, maybe. Don’t give my uncle the satisfaction of a response._

_My uncle is Cyras Fraxigra. If you don’t know him, maybe your father would. Cyras claims they were best friends in high school. Which leads me to why I’m being held at gunpoint to write this letter in the first place. According to Cyras, it would be “very nice if our sons were also friends in high school but since I don’t have a son I guess that falls to you, Scra, hahahah you’re so unlucky and no one gives a shit about how you feel, least of all me because I’m a terrible uncle and I enjoy humiliating my nephew in front of strangers in new and exciting ways”._

_Anyway, as you can see, there is one fatal flaw in my uncle’s plan. He failed to consider that we—you and I, that is—reside on polar opposite sides of the country. But my uncle, the UTTER buffoon, says that’s not an excuse and that snail mail still exists and there’s a good chance that Cedoc’s son lives in the same mansion he was born in (was he right oh fuck what if someone else opens this letter wait isn’t that illegal? who am I kidding it would be embarrassing enough if YOU open this letter my situation doesn’t get worse either way). Who uses snail mail! Literally no one! I hope you never open this._

_Obviously, despite my best attempts, my uncle didn’t give up his fantasy of us being friends. I admit that my stubbornness probably inspired even more stubbornness on his part and he ended up locking away my bike until I send this off. For that, I will apologize. To you. He will never get a single apology from me again._

_That’s all I have to say, I think. Writing this honestly about how much of a villain my uncle is was somewhat refreshing. If you followed my instructions or are any semblance of normal, you won’t get this far into the letter, which means I can write anything I want here. To be honest, that’s how I’ve been writing this entire letter. If you actually do read this far, that’s your own fault and I can’t help you._

_If you weren’t born or at least were born a little bit more discreetly, maybe my uncle wouldn’t be forcing me to write this. So you have a little bit of fault here as well. Just saying._

_Begrudgingly and_ _against my will_ _,_

_Scra Eldwode_

  
  
  


_Dear Scra,_

_Sorry to disappoint you with a reply. I think it’s cool that your uncle knew my dad. What was he like in school? Why did they lose touch? What was their relationship like? Sorry for all the questions, but it’s not like I can ask my dad. I know there’s a big chance you won’t reply to this. I kind of hope you will? Thanks for reaching out to me, no matter how reluctantly it was. I guess we’re the ones who use snail mail now. Lol._

_Sincerely,_

_Ky Cedoc_

  
  
  


_Ky,_

_Your dad was a rich jock type and my uncle was a delinquent. You can fill in the rest. Isn’t it obvious how they lost touch? My uncle moved away._

_I hate that you made me ask Cyras about all of this he is being so smug and disgusting. Do something to make it up to me._

_Don’t be a prick and back out now that you got what you want,_

_Scra_

  
  
  


_Scra,_

_What should I do to make it up to you? Your letter is so short compared to what it was before. Also, why do you have a bike? Can you not fly?_

_Sincerely,_

_Ky_

  
  
  


_Ky,_

_MY letters are short, he says. Now that I know you actually read these I can’t just say anything, can I? You never should have read the other one anyway, you had ONE job._

_I have a bike because it’s fun and I like it. Of course I can fly. Cyras wouldn’t lock up the only mode of transportation I have._

_Why don’t you tell me a secret?_

_Scra_

* * *

“New guy! Scra!” Ree yelled across the cafeteria. “Sit with us!”

“What are you doing,” Ky murmured as the three of them watched thinly veiled conflict flit across Scra’s face.

“Being welcoming,” Ree replied, stuffing a chip into her mouth. “He probably doesn’t have anyone to sit with. We’re not too far down the food chain, so it’ll be good for him. Especially with Tiraa here.”

Tiraa rolled her eyes and Ky tried to sink into the bench, to no avail. Scra seemed to have made his choice to come over and was now almost at their table. Another student intercepted.

“Made friends already, Scra?” she said keeping her gaze on the trio. Ree wasn’t looking, with about five chips in her mouth at once and trying to fit more.

“Not my friends,” Scra grumbled, which Ky found deeply insulting.

He grinned with as much sunshine as he could muster. “What are you talking about, Scra? I thought we were besties already?”

There was an awkward silence while Scra looked at Ky with a mix of annoyance and confusion and the other student openly stared at him.

Eventually, she sat down next to Ree. “Well, then.”

“Neekia!” Scra protested, but was cut off.

“Go sit, you baby. Lunch only lasts so long and I want to eat before having to endure more classes.” Scra huffed and Ky realized with growing horror that the only space left was beside him. When Scra shuffled over to plop down, their shoulders brushed.

This close up, it was easy to see all of Scra’s features in detail. Throughout the summer, Ky had casually daydreamed about the different faces Scra might have in real life. Was he tall? What did he sound like? How easy was it to make him smile? He never considered that he might learn the answers.

It was distracting, being this close to Scra. His friends and Neekia held conversation that flowed around him, just out of reach. He hadn’t expected Scra to be this _buff_ . What did he do? Look at those _arms_. Did he play any sports? He never said, in the letters. He never said very much about anything in the letters. Neither did Ky.

Was it normal for skin to be this smooth-looking?

“Hey,” a deep voice interrupted, drawing Ky’s attention. It was Reamer, with Brek close behind as always. “Ky. Will you be trying out for the AC team this year?”

“You guys have an AC team here?”

Reamer’s attention shifted easily. He smiled at Scra in a way Ky thought was supposed to be either charming or intimidating. Maybe both.

“Yes we do. It’s safe, though. Mostly for fun. A little bit of practice before professionals, for anyone who might be interested. You new?” Reamer leaned his hands on the table, leaning too far over Ree and earning an eye roll and a shudder from her as she leaned away from him.

“Yeah,” Scra replied.

Reamer’s eyes flashed with intrigue. “Would you be interested? I’m captain.”

Scra pretended to consider for less than a second. “No. Thanks.”

Reamer pushed himself back upright. Ree scooted flush against Neekia so that he wouldn’t be able to fill in the space again, and Neekia threw a chip in her face for the invasion.

“That’s a shame. Hope you like our school. We have fun.” Reamer smiled again, more like a smirk, sending a chill down Ky’s back, and sauntered off with Brek following obediently behind.

“Who was that?” Scra asked the table.

“Reamer,” Tiraa answered. “Self-proclaimed king, if schools were ruled by monarchies.”

“Prince,” Ky corrected.

“He thinks because he’s rich and his mom is the superintendent he can do whatever he wants,” Ree said.

“He _knows_ because he’s rich and his mom is the superintendent he can do whatever he wants,” said Ky.

“Whatever.”

“Isn’t he your friend, Tiraa?” Scra asked. “I saw you two talking earlier.”

“Our _parents_ are friends,” Tiraa said, examining her cuticles.

“Aaaand his best friend is her ex,” Ree supplied.

“Was it that guy behind him?”

Tiraa shot Scra a piercing look. “Yes. Let’s not talk about it anymore.”

Ky saw an opportunity. “So you have a motorcycle, Scra?” Scra tensed. Ree perked up.

“What? Do you?” she asked, leaning forward and ignoring Neekia’s attempts to shove her over.

Ky studied Scra’s expression, but nothing was betrayed. He was rubbing the hem of his black t-shirt between his thumb and forefinger under the table, barely noticeably.

“Yes,” Scra said simply.

Ky took a sip of water. “I saw you riding it to school today,” he said, taking a leap of faith.

“Does that mean it’s here??” Ree asked, finally scooting over enough to give Neekia personal space.

Scra pinched the hem of his shirt, fingers stilling. “Yes.”

“That’s _so cool_ ,” Ree said, color high on her cheeks. “Show us after school, okay? Meet you by your locker.”

“No,” Scra said. He was ignored.

* * *

_Scra,_

_A secret? Okay. Promise you won’t tell the government? I like oatmeal raisin cookies. All of my friends hate them and they’re all very opinionated about it so I just pretend I do too._

_Kind of random, but do you have a favorite flower? What’s your favorite type of weather?_

_Sincerely,_

_Ky_

  
  
  


_Ky,_

_Of course I’m going to tell the government. I’m on my way to tell them right now. “Ky Cedoc has HORRIBLE taste in cookies! Arrest him!”_

_I don’t have a favorite flower? I don’t really know that many. Is daisy one? I like rain. I don’t mind the cold that much and the sound of it is nice. What about you? For both, although if you name a flower there’s a high chance I won’t know it._

_Scra_

* * *

Scra was fuming. “You can’t just STAND UP in the middle of me driving it!”

They were in the middle of the school parking lot, an hour after school ended so that there were barely any cars left.

Ree looked only mildly concerned. Tiraa said, “Maybe you shouldn’t have let her ride with you.”

If they were a cartoon, Scra’s face would have transitioned to bright red. As it was, his cheeks just turned a little pink and his voice got very squeaky. “I _DIDN’T,_ she just hopped on without my permission!”

Tiraa walked toward the bike. “Okay, my turn. I want to drive it.”

Scra took another deep breath, obviously overwhelmed by the audacity of the two. “YOU CAN’T JUST—how do you know how to drive this??”

Tiraa shrugged, looking quietly proud, eyes on the purring motorcycle below her. “It’s easy.” She slipped Scra’s helmet on and she was off.

Ree yelped and leaped in encouragement as Tiraa made a loop around the parking lot before Scra ordered her off.

“That’s enough,” he scolded, glaring at the three of them one at a time.

Ree put a foot on the bike which Scra immediately shoved off. “But Ky hasn’t had a turn yet. That’s not fair.”

Scra spun to face Ky.

“Uhhhh that’s okay,” Ky said, attempting to placate, “I don’t know how to drive it.”

“Just ride behind Scra like Ree did,” Tiraa said.

“ _Not_ like Ree did,” Scra muttered, but got on the bike and waited for Ky to join.

Ky felt uncomfortable. Was it okay for two guys to just be sitting, one with their entire front pressed against the other’s back?

“He’s waiting,” Tiraa whispered in his ear. “It’s fun, stop overthinking.”

So Ky gently sat behind Scra, making sure there was an inch of space still between them, and held on to the seat behind him.

“Ready?” Scra asked, and then didn’t wait for an answer.

They were speeding. They were definitely speeding. Ky felt his gut lurch and his teeth chatter. “I-I-I’m p-pretty sur-re the speed-d lim-it in this p-parking lot is 5 miles—”

Scra reached behind and forced Ky’s arm around him. Ky immediately squeezed his waist with both arms, vaguely aware of Scra’s soft and warm stomach beneath his shirt and the light brush of his feathers on Ky’s face.

“We’re going, like, 7,” Scra yelled over the engine. “What are you so scared of?”

“Death,” Ky answered immediately. And then they were back in front of Ree and Tiraa. It was a pretty small parking lot.

Ky stumbled off the motorcycle quickly, heart racing.

“Um,” Ree said.

“I’ve never been so exposed on the road before!” Ky defended.

“It’s a parking lot,” Tiraa said.

“What are you all doing!” yelled a voice from across the parking lot. Ree groaned.

“That’s Lyr,” she told Scra. “She’s a nightmare.”

Lyr had her hair up in a neat, high ponytail and was wearing a tank top and miniskirt. Her face was bright red and she had her hands cupped around her mouth.

“None of your business!” Tiraa yelled back.

“You need a helmet to ride on that thing and you shouldn’t be going around the parking lot! This is the school!”

“Thanks,” Ky told Scra while the girls argued across the lot. Scra nodded. “We’ll see you tomorrow?”

Scra considered him. “Are you guys going to yell at me from across the cafeteria again? It seems like yelling is your thing.” He eyed Ree and Tiraa who were taking turns screaming at Lyr.

Ky offered a smile, a tad devious. “Not if you sit with us right away.”

Scra watched him and Ky felt his heart beat faster. It was different to be looked at by Scra, for some reason. He felt uncomfortable, but oddly like he had also won a prize he’d been working hard for.

“Alright,” Scra finally relented.

Ky smiled and stepped back. He watched as Scra drove away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more plot in the next chapter ;) thanks for reading!


	2. Your Extraordinary Role Model

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A party, a proposition, and a... bathtub?

_Scra,_

_Sometimes I wish I had an older sister. Just to take care of Keelee with. I think she wishes she had a sister. What do you think? Do you have any siblings? It was really rainy today which made me think of you. Wasn’t cold, though. I never really thought about rain before, actually. But I think you’re rubbing off on me because I found it nice. Did the bathtub thing work out?_

_Sincerely,_

_Ky_

* * *

“Why are we here,” Tiraa grumbled.

The party was loud around them. In the living room music boomed, and the smell of alcohol was in everyone’s breath. Ree, Ky, Tiraa, Neekia, and Scra were in the corner of the dining room. Reamer stood in a far corner, listening to a few underclassmen talk animatedly but occasionally slipping glances over to their group. At a nearby table, some people were playing beer pong. Brek was one of them.

“Because Reamer invited us _specifically_ ,” Ree said, smirking into her red solo cup. “Just because you’re always involved in these things doesn’t mean it’s a boring occasion for all of us.”

Tiraa moved her jaw. “Fine. But I’m going outside.” She left them.

Ree suddenly grinned. “Who wants to dance?” Before anyone could answer, she grabbed Neekia’s wrist and pulled her away.

“Stop harassing me, I can fucking walk on my own!” Neekia yelled.

Ky looked at Scra, who was standing with his arms crossed. It had been two months since Scra had joined their friend group, but they still hadn’t talked about the letters. Ky wondered if Scra was embarrassed about them. He wanted to bring them up, but he didn’t want to ruin anything. Not the delicate friendship they’d settled on, nor the starlit memories of their summer exchange.

“So,” Ky said over the sound of music and chatter. “Did you… do this a lot where you were?” Scra looked at him. “Like, before you moved. Did you go to parties a lot?”

Scra was silent, but Ky had come to learn that he liked to think before he spoke and that he would always respond if just given the opportunity. How different he was, off paper.

“No. I… wasn’t a part of that crowd. This crowd, I guess.”

“Oh really?” Ky stepped forward as someone inched by behind him. “What were your friends like, then?”

Scra’s mouth twitched, and Ky realized he was starting to smile. “Fun. Troublemakers. They’d call themselves adventurers.”

“So do you keep in touch with them?”

Scra’s small smile fell. “No.”

Alarms rang in Ky’s head as he tried to think of a way to fix the mistake he’d unwittingly made, but Scra spoke first.

“Gonna go to the bathroom,” he said, gulping down the last of his drink.

“Oh, okay,” said Ky, trying to hide his disappointment. “I’ll be… here.” But Scra was gone.

Ky watched Brek and the others play beer pong and then the people in the other room dancing when the game was over. Ten minutes passed before he realized Scra wasn’t coming back. He sighed into his cup, questioned why he had come, answered his own question immediately, and then went to the backyard.

Tiraa was smoking by herself.

“You’re still here?” Ky asked, approaching her. Tiraa shrugged.

“Gotta make sure you kids get home safe. Don’t want you puking all over Keelee or something.”

Ky gasped. “I would never—!” Tiraa smirked and took another drag.

“So where’re the others?” she asked as Ky stepped in beside her.

“Ree and Neekia are dancing, I think. Scra… I don’t know where he is.”

“Hm.”

“What would you do, when you used to come to these?”

Tiraa let out a puff of smoke and they watched it disperse. “Hang out with Brek. Make out.”

Ky regretted asking. “Oh.”

Looking amused, Tiraa turned to him. “You can ask about it. I know you want to. I can’t say I’ll answer everything, but you can ask.”

“Oh,” Ky repeated. “Um. Do you miss him?”

Tiraa let out a sharp laugh. “I wish I didn’t.”

“Was it that bad?”

Tiraa sighed and put out her cigarette. “No. It wasn’t bad. It was good, mostly.” She paused and Ky waited. “I… sometimes it feels good to leave things as they are. It’s easier to deny that there’s something else you want. But you have to take care of yourself.” Tiraa met his eye. “Taking care of myself meant leaving him. That’s all.”

They stood in silence for a while as Tiraa’s words bounced around in Ky’s brain as if trying to knock something down, until Ree stumbled out of the house, shouting for them to join the party again.

* * *

_Ky,_

_YES THE BATHTUB THING WORKED OUT it’s so nice I never want to leave. The era of showers is over. How was your visit to your grandma?? You never mentioned it._

_About Keelee_ — _I don’t know her, so I can’t guess what she thinks, but from what I hear, you care about her a lot. That means something. I don’t have any siblings, but it would have been really cool to have one, especially one like you. I think, regardless of whether or not she wishes she had a sister, she loves you a lot. I don’t have a lot of experience with kids, but when I was a kid, I had trouble telling people that they mattered to me. I don’t assume children are the best at communication in general? So don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re doing your best, and from what I’ve heard, that’s plenty._

_Also, WOW I got the beach boy to like rain!? I do love being a trendsetter. Feel free to tell me all the other ways I’ve influenced your life for the better._

_Your extraordinary role model,_

_Scra_

* * *

On Monday, Scra approached Ky in the hall.

“Can I talk to you?” he whispered.

Ky looked around at the passing students. “Here?” Scra scrunched his lips to the side, eyeing the crowd.

“I’ll walk you to class,” said Scra, and Ky became inexplicably aware of the feeling of his heart beating in his chest. “Can you hear me if I talk this quietly?” Ky nodded.

They started walking. “I didn’t see you at the party,” Scra said at first.

Ky blinked.

“When I came back. You weren’t there.” He was looking at Ky.

“I… waited. I thought you weren’t coming back.” Scra’s face fell and Ky related. He wanted to reach out but left his hand where it was by his side, twitching minutely.

“Oh. About that.” He stared straight ahead for a moment. “Reamer gave me a… proposition.”

Scra waited until they were on the stairs, not surrounded by people, but still shrouded in the noise from the hall.

“He wants to, um, date me?”

Ky tripped on a stair.

“Are you okay?” asked Scra, helping him to his feet. Ky gave a weak smile.

“Sorry, you were saying?” Scra worried his lip and looked away.

“He was, like, trying to do something when I got out of the bathroom. I don’t know, kiss me or something.” Ky swallowed. “I said I wasn’t sure and he told me that he’s been interested and asked if I want to go out with him? On a date?” Scra absentmindedly grabbed the hem of his shirt and rubbed it between his fingers. “I don’t know, I’m new and I told him I’d think about it, but I…”

Ky watched this new, nervous version of Scra. A blush was high on his cheeks. It became clear to Ky that Scra _liked_ Reamer.

“What do you think?” Scra finished, looking up at Ky with hopeful eyes.

Ky tried to smile. “I mean, yeah, if you like him back, go for it. I don’t really know how it works between, like, two guys, so.”

Scra moved his gaze to the floor. “Right.”

Ky tried to backtrack. “But yeah! Go for it.”

Scra looked back up, and Ky could swear he saw a twinkle in them that made his gut twist. “So I should say yes?”

Ky was about to say “yeah, go for it” again but just nodded instead. Scra looked back down and nodded as if to himself.

“Okay. I’ll say yes.” He gave a quick, small smile to the floor.

Ky tried to ignore the unexplainable pit opening in his stomach.

* * *

Ree and Tiraa were with Ky in his room after school, Ree laying sideways on his bed with her feet up on the wall and Tiraa sitting on his desk. They shouldn’t have been there because Ky had forgotten about an upcoming astronomy exam and he desperately needed to study.

“Uggghhhh,” he groaned into the musty pages of his textbook. “Why did I take this class. I knew I was going to suck at it.”

Ree poked one of his feathers from her spot on the bed. “Heh.”

“Where’s your sister?” Tiraa asked, looking up from her cuticles.

Ky glared at her. “You don’t even try to pretend you’re not just friends with me so you can hang with her.”

Tiraa offered him a brief glance as she hefted herself off the desk. “At least you’re smart enough to notice.”

Ree barked a mean laugh and Ky pouted.

“She’s probably in the backyard,” he grumbled as Tiraa left the room.

“Thanks!” she called cheerily in return.

Ky spent another five minutes staring at his textbook and trying to force osmosis to occur. “Please…” he whispered to the words on the page. “Copy and paste…”

Ree piped up, startling Ky from his concentration. “Lyr and I fought again today.”

This was much more interesting to him. “When? About what?”

Ree groaned and turned on her stomach before sliding slowly to the ground face-first. With her nose in the carpet, she shouted, “I don’t even know!” and threw her phone against the wall.

“Don’t you need that—”

Ree ignored him. “We were in history and I guess I was being called on a lot, but it’s not _my_ fault that no one in that class wants to speak, or that Professor Hu literally won’t move on ‘til someone does! And I’m not gonna waste my time pretending not to know the answer when I _do_ , and some of us are in school to actually learn, you know! So we should spend our time learning! And then she’s all like to her stupid pinchy-face-friend,” Ree’s voice got comically high-pitched now, “‘Ree is such a know-it-all tee hee, she thinks she’s sooo much better than us’ and then I _might_ have said something along the lines of, ‘At least I don’t spend $100 on tutoring just to be second place’ and then she got, like, really red and tried to get me in trouble and it didn’t _work,_ obviously, but she kept looking over at me for the rest of class and whenever I met her gaze like, ‘What?’ she just huffed and rolled her eyes. Maybe if she didn’t spend all her time hovering over _me_ , she wouldn’t need so much help to do well in class!” Ree let out another groan and flopped down fully to the floor.

Ky thought about her last sentence for a bit. “I wonder if she… okay, don’t hit me for saying this, but do you think she just wants to be your friend again?”

Ree looked up at him. “You’re right, that does make me want to hit you.”

Ky flinched. “Think about it! She _does_ work really hard to stay near you in grades, and it doesn’t seem like she ever gives up a chance to talk to you, even though she normally says… mainly insults. But most people just ignore people they don’t like, not feel magnetically attracted to them.”

Ree squinted. “Say she does want to be friends. Why would she be such a bitch to me, then?”

Ky shrugged. “Maybe she’s still mad at you. You can be mad at someone and still love them, you know.”

Ree turned her head to the ceiling and sighed.

“I’m just saying. Maybe if you weren’t so…”

“So _what_ , Ky.”

“If you were a little more patient with her, you two could be friends again.”

“Brave of you to assume I even want that.”

“You’re only thinking of what your relationship is like now. But don’t you miss how it used to be?”

Ree didn’t answer.

* * *

_Scra,_

_Haha I forgot to tell you! It was nice to see her. She made Keelee’s favorite cookies. We talked about my dad a bit, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear about that. It’s all heavy and stuff. Speaking of heavy, sorry about my moping earlier. But what you said really means a lot to me. Thank you. I don’t really know what makes you think such good things about me, but I’m glad you do. The feeling is mutual._

_I’d say for someone I’ve never met, you’ve actually influenced my life quite a bit. For one, my handwriting is better lol. But, I don’t know. It’s nice to have someone to talk to who isn’t… in the middle of it all. I love my friends, but I never want to be too much or disappoint them. I don’t know why, but with you I never feel anxious. I guess that just means you’re easy to talk to? Or write to, lol._

_Say hi to your uncle for me._

_Sincerely,_

_Ky_

_Scra,_

_Hey, it’s been a while. I just wanted to check that you got my last letter? If you sent one, I didn’t get it. How are you and your uncle?_

_Sincerely,_

_Ky_

_Dear Scra,_

_Hi, it’s Ky. I know it’s been a while, but I wanted to check in? If you were busy, are things quieting down now? School’s starting soon for me. What are you up to? You can always reach out to me._

_Yours,_

_Ky_

Scra didn’t respond, and Ky didn’t reach out again.

* * *

Ky watched the fireflies sparkle in the evening dark. Scra had been helping him with astronomy homework, so Ky had paid him back in ice cream, and now they sat on a swing set in the playground of Keelee’s school. They ate their ice cream in comfortable silence. Ky noticed out of the corner of his vision that Scra’s eyes were pointed to the stars.

“So I,” Scra started. “I talked to Reamer.”

Ky forced a smile to hide his displeasure. “Oh.”

Scra nodded. “He took me to lunch.”

“Oh.”

“It was… nice. He’s very, ah, rich.” Scra smiled to himself and Ky tried desperately not to frown. “He tried to be subtle about it, but that doesn’t work out when you’re also trying to spoil someone.”

“So he’s spoiling you?”

Scra looked up, shocked. “What? No! I mean, we only went out once, but he…” Scra paused to think about his next words. “We went to a nice restaurant and he got me flowers.”

It was dark, but Ky could tell Scra was blushing. He stood up. “Well, I’m glad he’s treating you well _so far_.”

Scra looked up, confusion clear on his expression.

“Let’s go. Do you mind taking me home? Or I can fly.”

Scra stood and gave Ky a dark look before turning away and walking toward his bike, empty ice cream cup in hand. “I’ll take you.”

When he got home, Ky found Tiraa watching a movie on the couch with a sleeping Keelee in her lap. Ky settled beside her with a heavy sigh and leaned his head on her shoulder, which she shrugged off. Leaning instead on the arm of the couch, Ky felt a sudden, deep longing to have someone in his lap as well, someone whose hair he would brush through with his fingers, whose waist would fit snugly within his arms. Whose dark eyes would meet his and make him smile without meaning to. His chest ached.

“Icarus,” whispered Ky, and Tiraa looked over. “I really need a girlfriend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more to go! please leave a comment if you have time, and thanks for reading <3


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